Yahoo! News: Digital Music
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:01:31 GMT Paisley: 'Hard to ignore' serious themes on new CD (AP)
AP - As much as he enjoys singing about the double lives of computer geeks ("Online") and amorous country boys ("Ticks"), Brad Paisley says there's too much going on in the world to be too lighthearted on his new album, "American Saturday Night."
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Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:10:10 GMT When Your Phone Rings, the Copyright Police May Come Calling (PC World) PC World - A digital rights group is contesting a U.S. music industry association's assertion that royalties are due each time a mobile phone ringtone is played in public. [more info]
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:36:43 GMT Warning over Michael Jackson email virus (AFP)
AFP - Computer security firm Sophos issued a warning about an Internet virus transmitted from a mass email claiming to contain secret songs and photos of Michael Jackson.
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:46:25 GMT Sony Music, IODA create digital network (Reuters) Reuters - Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment, the second largest music company in world, said on Wednesday it made a strategic investment in IODA, a digital distributor of independent music. [more info]
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:08:07 GMT Jackson will sets family trust, funeral undecided (Reuters)
Reuters - Lawyers for Michael Jackson filed the pop star's 2002 will in court on Wednesday that puts his multimillion-dollar estate in a family trust for his three children and his mother, but were denied a bid to take immediate control of his music fortune.
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:14:00 GMT Pirate Bay Sale Signals the Death of an Era (PC World) PC World - With all the outrage over The Pirate Bay going legit, I think it's time to reconsider the merits of illegally media sharing. The world has changed since Napster introduced peer-to-peer file sharing in 1999, and the culture that made the practice seem necessary has transformed. [more info]
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:00:00 GMT Happy Birthday! The Walkman Turns 30 (PC World) PC World - Sony introduced its Walkman portable cassette player thirty years ago this week, kicking off a revolution in the consumer electronics industry by changing the way people enjoy music. [more info]
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:27:20 GMT Sony struggling as Walkman hits 30th anniversary (AP)
AP - When the Sony Walkman went on sale 30 years ago, it was shown off by a skateboarder to illustrate how the portable cassette-tape player delivered music on-the-go — a totally innovative idea back in 1979.
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:29:25 GMT Happy 30th birthday, Walkman (AFP)
AFP - Thirty years ago Sony launched the Walkman, a gadget which revolutionised the way people around the world listened to music but has since been overtaken by an icon of the digital age -- the iPod.
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Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:51:00 GMT Dell to Make iPod Touch-like Gadget (PC World) PC World - Dell is developing a pocket-sized gadget fashioned after Apple's iPod Touch that will play music, videos, and connect with the Web and is based on the Google Android mobile operating system, according to reports in today's Wall Street Journal. [more info]
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:08:29 GMT Child pornography hidden in Swiss hip-hop website (Reuters) Reuters - Child pornography was downloaded from a Swiss hip-hop music website to around 2,300 computers in 78 countries, Swiss police said on Monday. [more info]
Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:23:26 GMT Sales of Jackson music, videos climbs online (AP)
AP - Michael Jackson's death has led to skyrocketing sales of his music and videos, with major retailers like Amazon.com Inc. and Barnes and Noble Inc. selling out of products that have regained immense popularity overnight.
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Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:25:11 GMT Apple Sued Over '99-Cent' iTunes Gift Cards (PC Magazine) PC Magazine - An Illinois couple has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple for deceptive advertising and breach of contract over iTunes gift cards that advertised 99-cent music downloads despite a price hike to $1.29 on certain songs. [more info]
Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:40:12 GMT EC Warns Countries Not to Go It Alone in Broadband Upgrades (PC World) PC World - A week after the U.K. unveiled plans to establish a super-fast broadband infrastructure across the country within the next three years, Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for telecommunications, Thursday warned E.U. member states, including the U.K., not to go it alone.Coordinating policy on the roll-out of next generation broadband networks with other European countries is necessary if the ambitious goals of the countries, and the E.U., are to be achieved, Reding said in a speech at a conference in Brussels."To make the most of the E.U. single market, and to prevent the various national initiatives from getting out of rhythm and resulting in disharmony, guidance is needed at European level," she said, adding: "Europe cannot afford to get its ICT and telecom policies wrong; too much is at stake."Faster broadband connection speeds allow content such as music and video to be uploaded and downloaded to and from the Internet faster. They will also spur software innovations that will result in a greater choice of online applications for users.Politicians also see faster broadband as a vital tool for creating jobs and kick-starting their economies.Unilateral efforts from countries including the U.K. illustrate the frustration these countries feel about the lack of progress in updating E.U. telecom laws.The European Parliament has effectively vetoed a package of measures that included laws designed to help upgrade Europe's telecom infrastructure.Members of the European Parliament agreed to add a clause forcing governments to seek formal judicial approval before banning anyone suspected of illegally sharing copyright-protected material online.The French and British governments are trying to set up systems that would allow government agencies to ban individuals from the Internet without having to go to court.The national governments refused to accept the Parliament's now infamous amendment 138. As a result the whole package of laws cannot proceed along the law-making process. Reding said Thursday "we need to seal the deal on the new regulatory package so that we can move on to the other pressing regulatory issues that we face."Ed Richards, the chief executive of Ofcom, the U.K. telecom regulator, who was also attending the conference, agreed. "We cannot let it [amendment 138] hold everything else up. Nor can we afford to now re-open the substantive points of the proposed Framework," he said."At a time when governments across Europe are seeking to promote large-scale investment in next generation networks, and competition at the deepest possible layers, a failure to adopt the package before the end of the year would be a significant blow," said Richards.In addition to the telecom package, the Commission has also proposed recommendations aimed specifically at the creation of next-generation broadband networks across the E.U. One is designed to help national governments to step in and assist companies with state aid, while respecting the state aid rules. The other tries to balance two seemingly opposed interests: encouraging investors to spend billions on the new infrastructure on the one hand, and ensuring cheap access to the new networks for rival telecoms firms in order to spur competition.The draft recommendation published earlier this month was criticized by both sides in the debate: incumbents, usually former state owned telecom monopolies, argue that to recoup their investment in the infrastructure they should be allowed to charge higher prices to rivals that use their networks.But the rival firms argue that this would stifle competition and that it amounts to a regulatory holiday for the incumbents.Historically, Reding has been more supportive of the rivals' argument than the one posed by the incumbents. Nevertheless, she said Thursday that she supports the idea of allowing incumbents a light regulatory touch when they team up with other firms to invest in new broadband infrastructure, as long as the infrastructure uses fiber-optic cables."I strongly believe that this support by regulators should not apply in a mere VDSL context," she said. VDSL is a faster version of DSL (digital subscriber line) connections common today, but is slower than fiber-optic cables.The aims of the British initiative, dubbed Digital Britain, include having all U.K. homes connected with broadband of at least 2M bps (bits per second) by 2012. [more info]
Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:41:04 GMT Blink-182, Weezer to headline free Virgin fest (Reuters) Reuters - After months of speculation about the fate of the 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival, organizers have made an announcement that should please music fans who've felt the economic pinch of the recession: this year's event is free. [more info]
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